mTBI, PTSD and Stress (Catch All)

[MikeF]

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA (SEPT 2007-JAN 2009)

“Once you face death, once you overcome your fears, then you are free to live.* These are the lessons that I've learned....

I will martyr myself with my words so that you may understand, and I may heal.* It would have been simply easier to have died a hero’s death in Turki Village than to wrestle with the demons in my head.* I’ve died over and over again in Iraq.* My bird was shot down in Ramadi.* My tank crashed is As Samawa.* An RPG got me in Baghdad.* Indirect fire struck me in Balad.* A suicide bomber destroyed me in Baqubah.** The grenade got me in Turki Village.* The sniper hit his mark in Zaganiyah.* The moments flash through my mind again and again.*

They brought me home on the C-17, draped my coffin with the American flag, and laid me to rest in Arlington.* The motorcycle boy’s rode in, and some fanatical religious left wing group protested the war.* My friends flew in from all around the world, cried at the funeral, and headed to the pub for beers.* They drank throughout the night in memoriam.* “Mike was such a good dude,” they cried in their heightened state of inebriationated awareness.* They would mourn, remember, and dance.* It would be beautiful.* I’ve replayed this time and time again in my head.*

In the end, there would simply be a grave marker that Taylor Elizabeth Few would eventually visit and wonder who her daddy was.

Physically, I did not die.*

-Considerations on my own death in Iraq

[MikeF]

Until next time...

Walk with me....

Invitation open...

[davidbfpo]

Mike F,

At first I was puzzled and on second reading found some understanding. No good at poetry though. It helps if - even on a small scale - some of the journey has been travelled personally and then the insight comes.

Thanks

davidbfpo

[MikeF]

What is the point of all of this?

This is just my White Paper on PTSD and mTBI.

See as a survivor, I didn't know how to step out of the arena. I had to figure that out myself. So, I did something audacious. You now have a case study to read. Take your time with it.

Now, maybe y'all can figure out what to do.

As for me, I'm actually going home to just be normal for once. Life is way too short to be spent in the insanity of war.

Thank you for your patience and time. I hope that I did not offend anyone.

Peace

[Tom Odom]

What is the point of all of this?

This is just my White Paper on PTSD and mTBI.

See as a survivor, I didn't know how to step out of the arena. I had to figure that out myself. So, I did something audacious. You now have a case study to read. Take your time with it.

Now, maybe y'all can figure out what to do.

As for me, I'm actually going home to just be normal for once. Life is way too short to be spent in the insanity of war.

Thank you for your patience and time. I hope that I did not offend anyone.

Peace

Anyone offended by that does not count...

Thanks for sharing, Mike

Best
Tom

[slapout9]

For MikeF.

Brothers In Arms-Dire Straits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs

[Ken White]

good pick, Slap...